Flight of the Gin Fizz: Midlife at 4,500 Feet

Flight of the Gin Fizz: Midlife at 4,500 Feet

Flight of the Gin Fizz: Midlife at 4,500 Feet

Synopsis

Henry Kisor didn't know what he was getting himself into when a friend invited him aboard his small plane one afternoon, but as the engine revved and the craft took flight, he found himself exhilarated as never before. Fifty-three years old, Kisor had looked in the mirror and saw staring back "a man who was short, fat, bald, bespectacled, and deaf". He needed to reclaim his zest for life, and he found the answer in learning how to fly. With the eagerness of newfound youth, Kisor throws himself into his lessons and plans a suitable maiden voyage: a reenactment of Cal Rodgers's 1911 journey from New York to Los Angeles, the first coast-to-coast flight. Along the way, he learns that Rodgers himself suffered from a severe hearing loss, which adds a personal connection to the enterprise.

Flight of the Gin Fizz invites the reader into the cockpit with Kisor as he takes to the air, dodging storms and greasing landings on a journey across America that recalls the derring-do of the early days of aviation. Fans of Zephyr will find Kisor to be the same good-humored tour guide, and the cast of characters he meets to be as colorful and varied as the American landscape over which he travels.

Book details

PSPRIMARY SOURCE

A primary source is a work that is being studied, or that provides first-hand or direct evidence on a topic. Common types of primary sources include works of literature, historical documents, original philosophical writings, and religious texts.

Book details

PSPRIMARY SOURCE

A primary source is a work that is being studied, or that provides first-hand or direct evidence on a topic. Common types of primary sources include works of literature, historical documents, original philosophical writings, and religious texts.